Minnesota’s 10 Commandments of Hotdish

The weather is looking pretty wintery over the next few days. Central Minnesota could see up to another 10 inches of snow on Saturday and Sunday. Yikes. My family will be hunkering down, curling up on the couch, watching our favorite movies--and of course making hotdish. Sometimes, I really like nasty weather because it gives me an excuse to make my favorite Minnesota comfort food. Who doesn't love a good hotdish?

Hotdish making is an art and Minnesotans will tell you, there's actually 10 commandments of hotdish making that must be followed!

1. It must contain some type of starch...corn, rice, noodles or potatoes. Sometimes, if you're really creative, you can actually incorporate all of them into one dish...

2. It needs a meat. Minnesotans love their meats. The most popular hotdish meat is hamburger or chicken. Often times, hotdish will even include meat you caught yourself...like venison.

3. It must be served HOT. Hence the whole, "HOTdish" name. If you eat your hotdish cold you're a heathen and you're doing it wrong. You may as well move to the south and call it casserole.

4. You need to include some type of "cream of something" into your hotdish recipe. Usually that's a cream of chicken, or cream of mushroom soup. It's always hard to find this sacred soup around Easter time in Minnesota.

5. Jello salad is the best dessert to pair with a hotdish. The two go together like peanut butter and jelly.

6. The only two seasonings you should use are salt and pepper. We're simple folk in Minnesota. Anything more than that takes away from the beauty of the hotdish.

7. It is acceptable to eat your hotdish with ketchup. Yes, we are counting this as a vegetable.

8. The best hotdish recipes come from church cookbooks. That's one of those facts of life.

9. Eating seconds is required. If you're hosting a hotdish dinner, you must plan for people wanting seconds, and sometimes thirds. It's always best to make more than you need...and hotdish makes for great leftovers.

10. It must be called HOTDISH. None of this casserole nonsense. If you call it casserole, we can't be friends.

What's your favorite hotdish recipe? Share it with us in the comments below!